Ivan Sergejevič Turgenev

These haunting accounts of rural Russia and its downtrodden inhabitants helped to abolish serfdom in 1861.

Kansyan from the Beautiful Lands

"No, no, I've got your word for it, I've got to die ... you promised me ... you told me ..." Turgenev's accounts of hunting in rural Russia, and the extraordinary characters he meets there. Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions. Ivan Turgenev (1818-1883). Turgenev's works available in Penguin Classics are Fathers and Sons, First Love, Home of the Gentry, On the Eve, Rudin, Sketches from a Hunter's Album, Spring Torrents and Three Sketches from a Hunter's Album.

Kasyan from the Beautiful Lands

Ilse

“Strange things happen on this earth: you can live a long while with someone and be on the friendliest of terms, and yet you’ll never once talk openly with him, from the depths of your soul; while with someone else you may scarcely have met, at one glance, whether you to him or he to you, just as in a confessional, you’ll blurt out the story of your life.”

While not the most exciting duo of stories I do like how it gives a little glimpse into life in rural Russia of back then. Kasyan is an interesting fellow, and I’d liked to have a little more of him. Still, this was a fun read and I enjoyed myself, and so it was the little money worth I paid for it, though I’d not necessarily recommend it to others (unless they got easy access to it and are as interested in Russian literature as I am)

Kansyan from the Beautiful Lands

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